Is this a good idea?

"Equal playing field" doesn't really fit Tolkien, but this RPP proposal is as close as it gets in the Third Age. Mostly, though, Melkor--scratch that!--Morgoth's proposal is one that only fits certain concept, particularly freshly-employed, young people.

Just as a devil's advocate here, to lower RPP cost for some races.. Staff may or may not want to encourage selection of a certain race now and again. This could be done with what apparently happened to the Dunnies. Raising or lowering the RPP cost, dependent on in game census of races and plots etc.

Bones wrote:Just as a devil's advocate here, to lower RPP cost for some races.. Staff may or may not want to encourage selection of a certain race now and again. This could be done with what apparently happened to the Dunnies. Raising or lowering the RPP cost, dependent on in game census of races and plots etc.

That is actually a pretty neat idea.

My heart feels like an alligator!

An orc sings in Orkish,
"Tarks is meatz, soft and sweetz, such delicious for us to eatz!"

Bones wrote:Just as a devil's advocate here, to lower RPP cost for some races.. Staff may or may not want to encourage selection of a certain race now and again. This could be done with what apparently happened to the Dunnies. Raising or lowering the RPP cost, dependent on in game census of races and plots etc.

That is actually a pretty neat idea.

It is actually a pretty darned fine idea. Was this seriously BONES that came up with it? Wow.

The only problem I see, which is the same as just completely limiting the number of high-rpp races, is that if someone sets their sights on a high rpp role that exists in the wiki, then when they finally gain enough rpp to do it the rug is pulled out from under them is completely unfair. At least IMHO.

i set my sights on gaining that 6rpp. might stay steady at 5rpp for that race in most cases, might go down to 3 if there's a real in game need, might go back up to 5 after that character slot gets filled by someone, two more get created, goes up to the max of 6rpp?

i set my sights on gaining that 6rpp. might stay steady at 5rpp for that race in most cases, might go down to 3 if there's a real in game need, might go back up to 5 after that character slot gets filled by someone, two more get created, goes up to the max of 6rpp?

Vorondil wrote:
It is actually a pretty darned fine idea. Was this seriously BONES that came up with it? Wow.

The only problem I see, which is the same as just completely limiting the number of high-rpp races, is that if someone sets their sights on a high rpp role that exists in the wiki, then when they finally gain enough rpp to do it the rug is pulled out from under them is completely unfair. At least IMHO.

I would say at this point, it is staff-discretion, but my SUGGESTION would be, that if there is a lacking role, or a 'cool person' thing in game, that someone with such high RPP qualifies for, they be allowed it. A 6RPP Arnorian Dunny, that is suddenly 3RPP? Well, for that person who has 6 RPP, maybe offer them something more. Rather than the scruffy ranger from the North, they hold some position of merit or power, that conveys either widely known, or secret advantages to the player. A noble title or job that gets paired with their roll.

An Orc (high RPP value race) might be offered the position of minor war chief/boss.

Also, better starting gear. More consideration when choosing advantages. A high RPP race that applies for a crafter? Already paid for cush shop, plenty of resources, feted and loved by Orc/AU folk and specifically sought for such things.

RPP, in my experience and in their making, are staff's level of trust in a player. Just because the RPP cost has dropped to provide need, doesn't mean the race is any less important or worthy of their time. My experience has also been that if you show willingness to work with the staff, more things get approved.

You finish eating a green and brown mushroom. You still feel hungry
eat belly-rot
You feel a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach as the mushrooms hit.
You are hungry.
You are starving!
You finish eating a belly-rot mushroom.
You are starving!

Vorondil wrote:
It is actually a pretty darned fine idea. Was this seriously BONES that came up with it? Wow.

The only problem I see, which is the same as just completely limiting the number of high-rpp races, is that if someone sets their sights on a high rpp role that exists in the wiki, then when they finally gain enough rpp to do it the rug is pulled out from under them is completely unfair. At least IMHO.

I would say at this point, it is staff-discretion, but my SUGGESTION would be, that if there is a lacking role, or a 'cool person' thing in game, that someone with such high RPP qualifies for, they be allowed it. A 6RPP Arnorian Dunny, that is suddenly 3RPP? Well, for that person who has 6 RPP, maybe offer them something more. Rather than the scruffy ranger from the North, they hold some position of merit or power, that conveys either widely known, or secret advantages to the player. A noble title or job that gets paired with their roll.

An Orc (high RPP value race) might be offered the position of minor war chief/boss.

Also, better starting gear. More consideration when choosing advantages. A high RPP race that applies for a crafter? Already paid for cush shop, plenty of resources, feted and loved by Orc/AU folk and specifically sought for such things.

RPP, in my experience and in their making, are staff's level of trust in a player. Just because the RPP cost has dropped to provide need, doesn't mean the race is any less important or worthy of their time. My experience has also been that if you show willingness to work with the staff, more things get approved.

I think the way we could look at characters and character building might be that we could ask a few questions about the character.

Does my character add to the overall setting? (this is usually a yes, unless you create a character that lives on the outskirts and doesn't really seek out pc to pc interaction)

Does my character contribute to other pcs or to the sphere they are in? (are you making armor, weapons, clothing, food, for other pcs?)

Does my character contribute to the clan they are in? (are you actively building upon the clan and enriching it?)

IMHO, characters built that help the greater meta community of players (meaning you contribute either to making things happen/interesting or making things available, or even both) should be highly encouraged regardless of race.

So an Arnorian Dunedain scruffy ranger type would be great, but only on the premise that they would be recruiting or making use of interactions with other players towards generating plots and storylines. Whereas a lone Arnorian that does not seek to interact or involve themselves with the community on an RP and meta level actually takes away from the game.

TLDR: It's fine if a character avoids leadership roles, whats important for the game to be more enjoyable is that we build our characters to interact and add to the greater community of characters, whether it's through item creation, story creation, or contributing to a clan, or a combination.

dunno if that made sense.

edit:
to connect it to the discussion on lowering the rpp for a race until the race/role demographics are filled.

It makes sense, sort of, to do that. Perhaps a very legit reason to do so is to open a door for a character that fits the bill for what staff need for the environment they want to create inside the sphere. Perhaps, along with the lessening of rpp, the applicant is also given a set of character details that they must comply with in order for the discount to actually happen.

Kind of like a "Ok, we'll lower the rpp requirement of this character, but you have to do this--" deal

Last edited by Freon on Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

RE: adjusting RPP costs, I'd prefer it be upfront/public. Staff looking for Arnorian Dunadan, make an announcement, etc. They're 3RPP until the position is filled. Let people(even ones with characters, maybe?) apply, then retire if they get accepted.

I'd like to see an option to purchase a 2nd pc in the opposite sphere.

3rpp or whatever cost, lets you play a basic 0rpp pc in opposing sphere.

Why do I think this is a good idea?

We do have a limited playerbase, and players will typically play where there's active pcs. Utterby has that advantage, and if you ever check out Who, the 'evil sphere' is ghost towned.

That doesn't mean there aren't players interested in orcs, wargs, or easterlings. It means there's players tied up in human roles, or just not interested in playing in a 'dead sphere'.

Been playing a human for like, I don't know, 6 monthsish, and have contemplated retiring a couple times because when it comes down to it, I prefer and enjoy orkish roleplay. It seems a shame that the sphere is depopulated, as the game is at its best (IMO) when there's a dynamic threat to players that aren't staff controlled.

I like this idea and I think that it could work. There are some obvious areas that will need to be ironed out, especially in the realm of PVP and in how player trust sometimes fluctuates.

Faroukel wrote:I know its not for everyone, but...

I'd like to see an option to purchase a 2nd pc in the opposite sphere.

3rpp or whatever cost, lets you play a basic 0rpp pc in opposing sphere.

Why do I think this is a good idea?

We do have a limited playerbase, and players will typically play where there's active pcs. Utterby has that advantage, and if you ever check out Who, the 'evil sphere' is ghost towned.

That doesn't mean there aren't players interested in orcs, wargs, or easterlings. It means there's players tied up in human roles, or just not interested in playing in a 'dead sphere'.

Been playing a human for like, I don't know, 6 monthsish, and have contemplated retiring a couple times because when it comes down to it, I prefer and enjoy orkish roleplay. It seems a shame that the sphere is depopulated, as the game is at its best (IMO) when there's a dynamic threat to players that aren't staff controlled.

Freon wrote:I like this idea and I think that it could work. There are some obvious areas that will need to be ironed out, especially in the realm of PVP and in how player trust sometimes fluctuates.

I don't know. I for one have a hard time trusting people not to share ooc information that could lead to compromising situations as it is when it comes to PVP and PKs. Maybe its the pessimist in me but I wouldn't trust people to have two characters (one in each sphere) and that's coming from someone who likes orkish sphere better than human.

Faroukel wrote:The general idea is that the RPP cost is sort of high in order to prevent 'untrustworthy sorts' from abusing the privilege.

Won't naysay the concerns, but rather, I think the benefits outweigh them.

1. a populated sphere with anchor pcs that keep new players that roll in satisfied that they are not in a dead sphere (and then leave/suicide).

2. an output for other players who are tied up with current pcs (prevents established pcs from retiring, getting bored or jaded).

And that's not even touching the actual ig roleplay benefits.

So yea, no high hopes here...but there it is.

Allowing dual PCs is going to lead to the worst of both worlds--two mostly/functionally-dead spheres instead of one struggling sphere and one dead sphere. The orc sphere has been given every single potential, possible benefit but this in the attempts to revive it--it devours them, then spits them out, dissatisfied. It's dead.

Maybe I'm wrong--but giving players high RPP roles to entice them to hang around and incentivize leadership didn't work. The most recent, non-lethal-to-them, we-even-give-them-back-their-captive PVP didn't work. It's nice when it's alive, but it doesn't stay alive...and that's because the Admin-work isn't being done to keep it alive. Nobody's interested in doing it, either.

All this proposal is is draining the blood of a weakened sphere in a desperate hope to save a corpse that kicks when eletricity is applied. I'd love to see an evil sphere that's alive--I did my teeth-cutting on TE, and if there was a place for it, I really would be the first to say so. But it's not going to work until there's the behind-the-scenes to support it, and honestly until recently even the one weak sphere was on life-support.

Rest in peace, evil sphere, I hope people stop trying to dig you up and make Frankenstein monsters.

tehkory wrote:It's nice when it's alive, but it doesn't stay alive...and that's because the Admin-work isn't being done to keep it alive. Nobody's interested in doing it, either.

Unfortunately, Tehkory has the right of it here. Many in the orcish sphere are just so fickle when it comes to support and getting what they want. I think the Easterlings basically summarize the whole mess. They asked for the moon, I gave them the moon, they played for a little bit until they figured out they'd actually have to roleplay on their own a bit and then just ghosted.

I currently have no plans to try to revive Team Evil, but I would not stop someone from playing over there. I would even support them, but would not carry them. The problem is, that at one time Team Evil dominated PvP in Mirkwood, which is what they love, but now, the Humans are stronger, so it's no fun for them.

The Human sphere has proven that they have the stick-to-it-iveness to invest time and work in to their characters, and now they are rewarded by being the toughest kid on the block. Unfortunately, we just don't have anyone willing to put the actual work in to establishing an orcish (or Easterling) clan that can hold a candle to the Humans.

I continue to hope for a champion, but I fear they are all blow and no go.

We've discussed possible multi-playing in the past, but I'm completely against it at the moment. (Yeah... I'm fickle too on some things.)